2024/25 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

PIED5520M Global Security Challenges

30 creditsClass Size: 20

Module manager: Dr Tom Vaughan
Email: T.P.Vaughan@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

This module explores the evolving global security agenda by focusing on key security challenges, including climate change, the changing international order, the Women Peace and Security agenda, military security challenges and armed conflict, public health, and terrorism, amongst others. Attention will be given to the scientific debates and controversies central to understanding these challenges, the existing policy frameworks design to address them, interconnections between security challenges in global perspective, and new approaches to finding solutions. The module will provide a framework for approaching the various security challenges in order to give coherence to the module overall, across all of the topics. This framework will focus on the scope and scale of challenges and how they contribute to the widening and deepening security agenda; the impact and controversies of securitization in each case; the compounding interconnections between challenges; policy frameworks and the possible tensions between these frameworks; and the relationship between each challenge and the ‘Global Security’ concept.

Objectives

The module aims to enable students to understand and engage with contemporary security challenges – such as armed conflict, terrorism, climate change, and pandemics – in a theoretically-informed manner. The teaching and learning activities will therefore focus on specific subject knowledge in relation to security challenges, policy frameworks, and the debates in the literature relevant to the challenges. Readings and classroom discussion will also include the perspectives found in the theoretical security studies literature.

Learning outcomes
- Provide students with an advanced understanding of key contemporary security challenges, including the scientific and policy debates;
- Assist students in developing their analytical skills in relation to contemporary security challenges, and in particular the ability to analyse empirical challenges in context, and to make links between empirical challenges and conceptual themes;
- Challenge students to develop critical and problem-solving skills in relation to security challenges and to constructively critique existing policy frameworks;
- Build the capacity of students to critically engage with the relevant literature in relation to key security challenges;
- Enable students to understand and think differently about contemporary global security challenges in their historical, social and political contexts, and to understand the scientific debates and interlinkages which underpin these challenges.

Students will practice and develop the following skills:

- Advanced analytical skills based upon studying academic literature and policy sources, in particular in relation to key empirical security challenges and debates;
- Team-work and collaboration with peers involving policy oriented and conceptual problem-solving tasks;
- Developing and delivering oral analysis and arguments, both individually and as a part of a group;
Identifying and developing the policy relevance of academic concepts and arguments, alongside existing policy platforms.

Syllabus

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	11	1.00	11.00
Seminar	11	1.00	11.00
Private study hours			278.00
Total Contact hours			22.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			300.00

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students will be invited to submit a draft outline of their final assignment at the end of term for feedback, which will not be graded. This is designed to give feedback on their approach to their assignment, identify and correct any problems, give general suggestions on how their outline might be improved, and generally ensure that they are on track and thus strengthen their performance in their final assignment.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Assignment	Coursework	100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

There is no reading list for this module

Last updated: 28/08/2024

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